farewell 2011, hello 2012!

ok, so i'm starting to make a habit of starting posts and not finishing them...here we are on january 9, and i'm just doing my NY update :P here goes:

after an up-and-down year of healthy/not-healthy lifestyle, multiple gym memberships, not-so-terrible 2's into the terrible 3's, a new job, a hawaiian vacation...2011 was quite a year!

it looks like i have my work cut out for me in 2012...i'll be a bridesmaid in my sis-in-law's wedding in june - perhaps i'll get back in shape with a personal trainer again :P to help with the healthy lifestyle, i'm going to use a benefit i've never taken advantage of before...a registered dietician! i could use my common sense when it comes to healthier eating habits, but obviously since i'm on a constant yo-yo-adventure i thought i'd try something new. the 3 gym memberships obviously aren't cutting it :P speaking of which, i've since cancelled my fitcity membership.

i'm very excited that steve nash is finally offering zumba classes at the brentwood location, so if i can get my ass in gear i could potentially zumba 4x/week! and i should use up my 10-pass at bonsor, so perhaps squeeze in a sunday class...we'll see :-) hahah. and since i haven't gone running since november 6 in hawaii, i almost need to start back at square one. i've been sick since the 1st, so once i can kick this nasty cold, i'll get right on that.

as for gabriel...we're having some problems at night again. we've had to stop using the video monitor - he doesn't like the "red eye" facing him in the dark; we used to have white noise in his room to block out the noise from the tv, computer, dishes, laundry, etc. after he goes to bed...he's since decided the noise is too scary, so we've stopped that as well. and to top it all off, he doesn't like his bedroom door closed - he likes to be able to see what mommy and daddy are doing after he's in bed. and the most recent problem...he wants the kitchen light on ALL NIGHT LONG. if he wakes up in the middle of the night, he demands more light. so i'm on the hunt for either a small lamp for his room, or an additional night-light.

asides from the night problems, we're still having all-out war at times...the latest was a doozy...chris went to work a lot later than usual, just to make sure that gabe and i were settled in our corners and were calm enough to co-exist :P hopefully getting back into the preschool routine and babysitting routine will help...the holidays were definitely overload...with christmas, having beau with us, and lazy days.

let's hope for an exciting 2012, filled with better parenting techniques and patience. speaking of patience, i've also been looking into hatha yoga and/or meditation. gabe's tantrums are definitely fueled by my over-the-top reaction to them...if i can channel my energy in a different way, perhaps we'll all be better off.

wish us luck!

christmas 2011

what a great month!

on the 4th, we watched the santa claus parade with the brown's. the previous year we arrived an hour prior, but with the route change, we ended up standing by a street closure barricade. at least next year we'll be better prepared, and there won't be any occupy movements! the parade was a lot of fun, and i had hoped seeing santa claus would motivate gabe to want a picture taken with him, but for some reason he just got more freaked about the jolly man in red.

on the 11th, we went to bright nights with our friends and their kids. 4:30 was a great time for the train ride...it was just getting dark and we could enjoy the lights (it helped that gabe had a nap en route!). afterwards, we walked around the park and checked out all the displays. we even managed a group shot with 10/12 kids! then, all the kids enjoyed their white spot pirate paks for dinner. yum yum!

on the 18th, we celebrated coraline's 2nd birthday. it's been awhile since we've been to gym-time, so gabe was in absolute heaven. different toys to play with, cars to drive, and best of all, lots of food, birthday cake and juice boxes :) later that day we went with the b-f's and wong's to van dusen's festival of lights. anyone thinking of going to this should always buy tickets in advance - as we were waiting for it to open at 4:30 there were staff checking tickets and stamping hands - very efficient! so once it opened, we just walked right through...easy peasy! i really enjoyed the festival of lights, and my highlight was the light & music display by the lake. it's like the bellagio but on a much much smaller scale. and judging by the "dancing" and laughing, i think gabe and tyler really enjoyed it too :-)

on the 21st, gabe and i were lunching at brentwood mall and he was looking at a table-top plastic picture of santa claus and finally decided he was ready to go see him. so we quickly finished our lunch and went running down to see him. after a 30 minute line-up, i thought gabe was about to change his mind, but we marched right over to santa and he hopped onto his lap and took a picture! this santa was great...he took time for a 1:1 chat with gabe, and he even asked me if we spoke any other languages at home so he could wish him merry christmas in another language.

christmas eve - not exactly the day i had planned. i was having some eye pain for almost 2 days, and i finally got an optometrist appointment. however, it wasn't a problem with my eye - it was my eyelid, and he isn't able to prescribe medications. with all the walk-in clinics closed, the optometrist suggested contacting a dr. on call to help. i waited 2 hours for the phone call back :P note for next time: DOCTORS ON CALL ARE USELESS, ESPECIALLY ON XMAS EVE - he refused to call a pharmacy with a prescription (even though the optometrist had diagnosed my problem), and he refused to do a housecall. so at 6 p.m. i drove myself to the ER to get it looked at and then finally i got a prescription. note for everyone: SHOPPERS DRUG MART (kingsway) HAS A 24 HOUR PHARMACY - OPEN ON XMAS, TOO!

after a 2 hour inconvenience, i finally returned home so we could open up our family presents. this year no one had any surprises...we pretty much all bought everything we wanted for ourselves and just billed the other family members. not a very christmas-y spirit, but it worked for our family :) gabe was in heaven with all of his new trains (it's hard to believe he still gets excited - he must have 30+ trains now!), he loves the crayola pen for the ipad, and we can't wait to see him ride his new balance bike from my parents!

by the time we got home at 11 p.m., we quickly left a glass of milk and cookie on the table for santa, along with gabe's artwork. it might have been the late night or the anticipation of more presents in the morning, but it was a rough night...gabe woke up almost every hour. it's a miracle that santa arrived in between the wakings!

christmas day - gabe slept in till 9 a.m., just minutes before my parents arrived for breakfast and to watch him open more presents. santa was very good to gabe and brought him everything he asked for ;-) for lunch, we headed to chris' aunt house for a potluck and more presents! christmas dinner was at my aunt's house (more presents!) - i was still full from lunch that it's shocking how much i still managed to eat appetizers, dinner, and dessert :P

boxing day - we did absolutely nothing! we didn't do any shopping at the mall or online...we just hit the dog park with beau, then celebrated my bday dinner with my family.

the 28th - gabe had a fun playdate with lexi, aly and gavin, and the girls even brought over a bday cake for me :-) so yum! for dinner, chris took me and gabe out for sushi...complete with ice cream for dessert - big mistake...gabe was singing in his bed until 11 p.m. that night :P grrr!

overall, a great month! we hope everyone else had a fun christmas with their families :)